On 23 August 1754, Louis Auguste was born to his father Louis, the Daupin of France and his mother Marie-Joséphe of Saxony, daughter of Prince-Elector of Saxony. Louis-Auguste was very shy as a child, most of this could be due to his parents neglecting if him in favour of his older brother, the bright and handsome Louis, duc de Bourgogne, who died at the age of nine. Although Louis-Auguste was quite bashful, he was still absolutley strong, healthy, and quite intelligent. He excelled in most of his studies, being the strongest in subjects such as: Latin, history, geography, and astronomy; he was also fluent in Itallian and English. Louis-Auguste's intilect strength was matched by his physical strength. He enjoyed physical activities such as rough playing with his younger brothers and hunting with his granddaughter. Louis-Auguste became the Dauphin of France when his father died 20 December 1765; his grief stricken mother died two years after. From that moment on Louis received a strict and conservative education, in an attempt to prepare him for the throne, from the Duc de La Vauguyon, "governeur des Efants de France" ( govoner of the Children of France). Throughout this education, he studied religion, morality, and humanities. His instructor, Abbé Berthier, taught Louis-Auguste many strange lessons, such as timidity was a value in strong monarchs, that may have turned Louis-Auguste into the indicisive King he became. His confessor, Abbé Soldini instructed Louis not to let the people read his mind. On the 16 May 1770, at the age of 15, Louis-Auguste married the fourteen year old Maria Antonia, which is Marie Antoinette in French. She was the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and his wife, the formidable Empress Maria Theresa. The marriage was arranged in order to create an alliance with France and the Habsburgs, however it was meet with skepticism by members of the French court, as they rememberd a previous alliance with the Habsburgs that got France involved in the Seven Years War. At first the people of France were charmed by Marie Abroinette's personality, however, eventually they came to despise her, accusing her of being promiscuous and too sympathetic to the enemies of France. From the start, the marriage was cordial but distant; this was due to Louis-Auguste's shyness and this issue also resulted in his failing to consulate his marriage. This caused Marie Antoinette much stress because the nonconsumated marriage threatened the alliance. Although the marriage started out tough, the couple gradually became closer and closer and they finally consummated their marriage in 1777. Nevertheless the couple still failed to produce an heir, and of course, the court noticed. The infertility of the couple was mocked by obscene pamphlets, for instance, one questioned "Can the King do it? Can't the King do it?" However, after all the problems and complications, Louis-Auguste and Marie Antoinette finally had their first child on 19 December 1778. Louis-Auguste succeeded to the throne of France, at the age of nineteen, as Louis XVI. With France's government deeply in debt, and resentment towards an"tyrannical" monarchy on the rise, Louis XVI felt unprepared for his role as King. He lacked the strength of character and decisiveness needed to combat the influence of court factions and support reformers on their attempts to improve France's government. During the early years of his reign, Louis XVI focused on religious uniformity and foreign policy, for example, he invoked an edict granting Franch non-Catholics legal right to openly practice their faith. Louis also successfully supported the American colonies fight for independence from Fance's long time enemy Great Britain. The policy of not raising taxes and taking out international loans, however, increased the debt and drove France close to bankruptcy by the mid 1780s. Consequently, the king was forced to support radical fiscal reforms, which was neither favoured by the nobles or the people. When the pressure on Louis increased, he reverted back to his earlier teaching of being uncommunicative and not responding to others who offerd help. Because of his failure in responding to France's problems, the Revolution sparked and would eventually grow uncontrollably. In 1789, Louis XVI was quickly deteriorating. In May of that year, in an attempt to fix the fiscal crisis in France, he gathered the Estates General, which was an assembly of the three social classes ( the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners). However, this assembly had the opposite effect and the the Third Estate, the commoners, declared itself the National Assembly; they also had plans to develop a constitution. In response, Louis XVI declared the Assembly null and void and he sent in the army to restore order, however, the people formed a National Gaurd and resisted the King; consequently, the king was forced to acknowledge the National Assembly's authority. Louis pacified the tension for a little while by saying he would acquiesce to their demands, however, as a result of the bad advice from the nobility, he resisted the demands. On 6 October 1789, the royal family was forced to move from Verailles to Paris, and Louis was advised to abdicate all his rsponsibilities as king, but nevertheless, Lohis refused and agreed with an attempt to escape to the eastern frontier in June 1791; this plan failed and Louis and his family were brought back to Paris, and Louis lost all his credibility as a monarch. Louis hoped that a war with Austria would pave his way back to authority; during this time many had suspicions of treason against the king and his powers were suspended. On 21 September 1792, the Legislative Assembly proclaimed the First French Republic. Louis XVI had now been given the name " Citizen Louis Capet". In November of that same year, proof of Louis secret dealings were found and he and his family were found guilty of treason and were condemned to death. On 21 January 1793, Louis XVI was guillotined at the Palace de la Revolution…nine months later Marie Antorinette suffered the same fate.
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